Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Went to the Wisdom gun show yesterday. Im fairly content with my personal armaments at the moment, so Im not really looking for any more guns. I mean, sure, there are more Id like to have but the core needs and core redundancies have been met. Theres only a couple things left I need in the way of thundertoys…a Beretta 21A, a Ruger MkII…thats really about it…

So, when I go to the gun shows Im more likely to be looking for surplus goodies to make my life as Commander Zero a bit more secure.

Rolled into Wisdom (and if your a bit light on the brakes you can roll completely through Wisdom) and found a fella with a table full of surplus gear. Some interesting stuff too. Bandage scissors, still in the wrap, sound-powered phones, machetes, bear suits, etc, etc. What did the Zero find that made him part with his hard earned $? A couple of never used spools of two strand commo wire. 1/8 mile and 1/4 mile. These are spools in a canvas carrier with clips for a sling. One end goes to your phone, you start walking and the wire plays out behind you, and then the other end goes to the other phone (or switchboard), I have 2 1/4 mile coils of European 2-strand but its not packaged nearly as handily as this US stuff. This will go nicely with the TA-312 phones I have.

Also picked up a couple MOPP-suit stuff sacks. Nice camo compression sacks used for keeping your chem-warfare suit in. Make terrific sleeping bag stuff sacks. Camo with compression straps, ALICE webbing, sling eyes and an ID window. Five bucks each. w00t. Took a pass on the very nice, very durable US military water jugs. They were really nice! But, I've already got enough civillian ones so no point sinking $10 into something I really didnt need.

The Big Hole Valley, where Wisdom is located, is a very nice, very scenic area. There were plenty of places where you could look around and not see a house or building in any direction. Places like that are always nice to dream about living on, but unless youre bringing a fabulous pension or a job with you making a living in these places is a major trick. I suppose if you had an internet biz of some sort that brang in around $30-40k a year you'd do okay. Tall order though. On the other hand, if the land were cheap enough it might make sense to buy a few acres now and just hold onto it until later…make some small improvements so you could move there whenever youw anted (or needed) to. Always nice to have a place to go….

Also saw a few interesting vehicles the other day. An FJ-55 Toyota LC (ca. 1970) for sale. Wagon-type vehicle, so no open bed but still lotsa room. $1700. Be a fun vehicle to start teaching myself automobiles on. Make a nice little hunting rig. Saw a very old Toyota LC pickup truck the other day. It must have been 50 years old if it was a day. Looked like it could climb right up the side of a tree. Wish Id gotten some pics.

Ah, the dreams of the armchair survivalist……………